A New Beginning
by SasuSakuisforalways
Summary: This is a SasuSaku read; if you are NOT SasuSaku, you won't like it...If you are, enjoy! It's quite short, but I think that any SasuSaku supporter will no doubt enjoy it. Please comment, and give me creative criticism; I'm aiming to become an author:
1. Life or Death

Her chest rose painfully up and down, heart throbbing beneath the mesh undershirt. Pale color spread across face from blood loss, agonizing to look at. Blood dripped form the corners of her mouth and slid down her gorgeous, colorless cheeks. I couldn't explain what I felt when I gazed into her glassy green eyes. I couldn't explain the tears that welled out of my eyes and slid down my face, falling upon her delicate figure. Her cherry blossom pink hair was streaked across her bloody forehead, almost none of her face showing save her eyes. The tension in her body fell suddenly relaxed; she was giving up—she stopped breathing.

"NO!" I screamed, sobbing into her hair. "Fight it! Please! Please. Please…don't let go…don't let go! I can't believe it took this to make me realize that I love you…" She had endured all of my cruelty, all of the coldness I had always displayed when around her. She had always cared—always been there for me, and I in return had given her nothing. No hope. No thanks. Not even a smile to tell her that some part of me actually cared. She deserved to have he way; she deserved to feel for once the love that I had never given her, and I didn't deserve anything. I had shunned her; I had dwelled and survived on forever hating that person who had destroyed all those who loved me. Except her. She had also given me love— love that I had accepted—love that could have healed me and made me yet stronger, and I had refused it. I had refused her. I had refused a future that I would have wanted, and I sat, staring at her wondering if I would ever have that chance again and knowing that I would not. "Please, Sakura. I'm so sorry for everything, and I know that's not enough. Please don't die. I don't care if you don't love me anymore, I won't be able to live with myself if you die. You don't deserve to die; Naruto doesn't deserve for you to die… I'm too weak to live without you which is something that you well deserve to know. I couldn't live without you…the only thing that kept me going is that you were still alive. I've never regretted something do much in my life; I regret leaving you. I'm shamed into silence when I remember that I've hurt you so many times before, and you have to stay alive so that you can believe how agonizing my pain is when I think of ever leaving you again, when I think of never seeing you again…when I left Konoha, when I left you, I lost everything." My sobs and tears broke through the still silence. I could barely breathe. "Please…you're all I have left in this world. You're everything I have..." My ribs ached and my eyes stung, forcing me to blink out more tears. "Please…I love you…Sakura, please! I love you so much…"

Her eyes regained the tiniest bit of light; her lungs expanded again, sucking in as much air as they possibly could. Her gaze remained fixed on me; tears welled out of my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I leaned down silently and pressed my lips to her cheek.

"Sasuke," she whispered, "I never stopped loving you." The forest illuminated unbearably, forcing my eyelids closed over the still active Sharingan. When I opened them, we were in a cherry blossom grove; Sakura lay healed in my arms. The pink flowers drifted down like warm rain on a spring morning, caressing my face in their graceful descent to the lush green grass. Their sweet fragrance wafted down with them. I lay her resting body down upon a blanket of blooms and dropped down beside her. Her breath was steady, face calm. All of the pain had since melted out of her expression, relieving my anxiety so that I could rest. And though her lips did not open, her voice rang vibrantly in my ears, "Sasuke-kun, I'll always love you."Sunshine beamed warm down upon my back, cherry blossoms continued to drift lazily down upon us. Eventually, exhaustion to me over, and I drifted to sleep next to her in the spring shower of pal e pink blooms.


	2. Konoha

Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update this one; I couldn't find any time for the last few weeks. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter.

Flashbacks are in italics :)

Please read/review!

Thanks to everyone who did ;) You guys are my motive to continue this story :)

Hope you enjoy chapter two!

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I awoke; we were still in the cherry blossom meadow. The still shadows lay behind the trees under the pale moonlight.

I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in my chest brought me back down immediately. A line of red spread across my white shirt; the cut from the sound ninja had reopened and was bleeding freely. Sakura sat up; being a medic, she immediately focused her chakra to her hands. Pushing back the stained fabric, she pressed her hand down against the gash.

I felt the warming sensation of the chakra pouring into the wound. It was at that moment when I understood why, years ago, she had pleaded for me to stay the night I had left. There was so much love in her eyes when she had looked at me, and I had chosen to abandon her; I had chosen to let her feel the pain of solitude, of isolation: the pain that one does not ever forget and the pain that only I could heal.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry. That night you pleaded for me to stay—I should have stayed. Revenge hasn't gotten me anywhere, and I see now my purpose in life. My reason for life is you. It was never about revenge; it was a search for a real meaning. I can't believe it's taken me this long…please forgive me."

"Sasuke, I forgave you for that long ago. Don't let the past rule over you; it's something I've noticed you're prone to doing."

"It is, isn't it," I murmured, staring into her eyes. They still held love for me; they held memories.

Long after the cut was sealed, she remained sitting, hand pressed over my heart. Dark circles lingered under her eyes which were slowly drooping closed. Her chakra must be depleted by now; her fight with the sound ninja had most certainly taken a lot out of her.

_I watched as she used jutsu after jutsu; she'd changed, grown. Even if she had mastered so many techniques though, they were all useless against the sound. Kidomaru was already preparing a trap. _

_I watched as Sakon used the very same jutsu he had used on me the first day I met him. _

_"DO! RE! MI!"_

_It was then that I threw myself between them._

_"I am your opponent."_

_"Really, Sasuke? I thought we were your friends," he said, preparing a jutsu that would certainly kill her._

_"LEAVE HER ALONE!" I screamed. Sakon shook with laughter._

_"Funny how love is sometimes. But I thought you gave up all that long ago Sasuke."_

_"I thought I did to, but I suppose all things change for a reason."_

_"Just kill them already," Jirobo complained. _

_"Why don't you just head back to Orochimaru; I'm not finished playing with them yet: I've only gotten to mi…"_

_"Fine, have your fun," Tayuya muttered. "Jirobo, Kidomaru, let him have his fun."_

_The sound ninja disappeared into the trees, most likely off Orochimaru to turn me in. _

_Before I could move, Sakon used the Taren Kyaku_. I felt several of my ribs snap. Coughing up blood, I began the hand signs for the Chidori.

"SHARINGAN! CHIDORI!"

_Using my sharingan to avoid Sakon's next kick, I drove the blade of the sword through his stomach. _

_Sakura was leaned up against a tree, barely breathing._

_"NO!" I screamed, sobbing into her hair. "Fight it! Please! Please. Please…don't let go…don't let go! I can't believe it took this to make me realize that I love you…Please, Sakura. I'm so sorry for everything, and I know that's not enough. Please don't die. I don't care if you don't love me anymore, I won't be able to live with myself if you die. You don't deserve to die; Naruto doesn't deserve for you to die… I'm too weak to live without you which is something that you well deserve to know. I couldn't live without you…the only thing that kept me going is that you were still alive. I've never regretted something do much in my life; I regret leaving you. I'm shamed into silence when I remember that I've hurt you so many times before, and you have to stay alive so that you can believe how agonizing my pain is when I think of ever leaving you again, when I think of never seeing you again…when I left Konoha, when I left you, I lost everything._ _Please…you're all I have left in this world. You're everything I have..." My ribs ached and my eyes stung, forcing me to blink out more tears. "Please…I love you…Sakura, please! I love you so much…"_

_Coughing, she sat up, hands glowing with chakra. Thank heavens she could heal herself. _

_Seeing my injuries, she immediately began healing me instead. Was this how much she loved me? _

Her eyelids eventually drooped closed, and she dropped down, landing softly on top of me. Her pink hair was silken and soft against my bare skin.

She looked so peaceful, so innocent while sleeping, like the young girl I had once been teamed with just after graduating from the academy. I absentmindedly wondered if I looked like who I used to be when I was asleep. As if interoperating my thoughts, a smile crept to her face.

I was tired, but couldn't sleep; too many thoughts ran through my head. I watched Sakura intently, sighing when her hand moved up to rest on the back of my neck.

A cool breeze swept across, scattering petals in all directions. I pulled her in closer, fearing that the chill would awaken her. Her response was a small sigh as she burrowed into my arms.

A thin beam of sun crept over the hill.

Sakura's hair glistened, light dancing across her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open, and no circles remained underneath them. She was a picture of beauty; a thin, fair face, wide sea foam green eyes, deep, dark lashes, and lips the color of spring roses.

Staring into each others eyes, we sat in silence until the sun had fully risen.

Her eyes traced to the lingering pink clouds, watching as their color faded.

"Sasuke," she began.

"Hn."

"You'll come back to Konoha, won't you?" I thought for a while, contemplating my return. "Please come back; nothing is the same without you. Naruto misses you too, "she added.

"I'd go even if I didn't want to," I thought aloud.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I've finally found that my purpose in life is to stay with you, no matter what else happens. I can't leave you again. You'll of course be going back—"

"Sasuke, I'd go with you—"  
"I know; that's what I worry about…but, then again, why wouldn't I return. " I said, her muscles relaxed, apparently relived that my intention was to return.

"Naruto will be happy to see you."

"That is if he doesn't hate me…"

"Sasuke, they—no one hates you."

"Really?"

"Sasuke," she began, "do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then please…come back," she pleaded.

"I will," I replied. She sighed in relief.

"I've missed you so much."

"Me too."

"Well, I guess we'd better be leaving if we want to make it back to Konoha before nightfall," she said, standing up. I stood as well. I was about seven inches taller than she was now, but I could tell that she'd also grown a few.

"You're taller than I remember, "I said.

She looked at me and then sighed, "you too." She took my hand and led me to the edge of the meadow. "I'm going to miss this place," she wondered aloud, "it'll be a while before I see it again."

"Why?" I asked. She never replied, but I didn't think I really needed an answer.

We took a step out of the meadow, and it disappeared behind us.

As we neared Konoha, I noticed a change in her expression. She turned her head to me, smiling and gazing into my eyes. At that moment, I recalled the day we were walking back from our mission in the land of hidden mist.

_"Sasuke, when we get back, do you maybe want to go on a date with me?"_

_"No, I don't think so."_

"Sakura, when we get back, do you maybe want to go on a date with me?" I asked. Her smile broadened; I could tell she was recalling that moment too.

"Yes," she said, "as soon as Tsunade chews you out…" I groaned; she giggled. "After all, you are the traitor, "she smirked.

"Hey! At least I came back. The Akatsuki would have loved me—"

"Please don't say that," she begged. "I just couldn't imagine how it would have been if you hadn't…"

"I'm sorry," I whispered, drawing her in close to me.

"They all would have died from shock anyway," she murmured. A contagious smile played at her lips.

"Rightly so. You would have had to join me then."

"Would I have had a choice?"

"No, probably not," I teased.

"Urgh. Those robes are awful," she muttered in disgust.

"Oh, we would have made such an incredible two-person Akatsuki…but I'd have to agree with you; the robes would clash with your hair." She laughed.

"They wouldn't do you any justice either," she teased, brushing her hand over my chest. "Well it's a shame that white shirt is destroyed," she giggled. I joined in her laughter.

As we approached the gates of Konoha, she suddenly stopped.

"You'll stay this time, won't you?"

"Until I die," I replied. She wrapped her arms around me, head resting over my heart. My pulse quickened as, for the first time, I leaned down to press my lips softly to hers.

No matter what was waiting for me behind the gates of Konoha, I would walk through them with her, for her. And I'd never leave her again. As long as she was with me, I could endure anything.

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Tell me what you guys want in the next chapter; I haven't even started it yet, so I could probably add in whatever.


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